1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge head which discharges liquid used in an ink jet recording method and the like and a method of manufacturing the same, and in particular to an ink jet recording head which discharges recording liquid such as ink (hereinafter simply referred to as “ink” ) and records, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, ink jet recording heads have become smaller and smaller while their densities have increased. There is an ink jet recording head which discharges ink in a vertical direction towards a substrate on which ink discharge energy generating elements, for generating energy to discharge ink, are formed. Regarding such an ink jet recording head, ink supply ports are generally formed so as to penetrate through the substrate. In this case, ink is supplied to the inside of the ink jet recording head from the rear face side (the face which is opposite to the face on which ink discharge energy generating elements are formed) via the ink supply port.
Ink supply ports usually have a long, flat pattern. A plurality of ink discharge nozzles are disposed along both side portions extending in a longitudinal direction of an ink supply port, and ink is supplied to each ink discharge nozzle from a common ink supply port. An Si substrate is generally used for the substrate of an ink jet recording head, and in this case, an ink supply port such as mentioned above may be formed using anisotropic etching.
One of the reliabilities sought in ink jet recording heads is the nonoccurrence of a recording operation malfunction called non-discharge (wherein ink does not come out of a desired nozzle) caused by a clogged nozzle. One of the reasons of such non-discharges is the penetration of dust or foreign particles in the nozzle, which blocks the supply of ink to the inside of a nozzle. Penetration of dust and foreign particles may occur either during the manufacturing process of the ink jet recording head or from the outside after the manufacturing of the ink jet recording head. As a countermeasure to the penetration of dust due to the latter occurrence, it is known to provide in the vicinity of the ink supply port of an ink jet recording head a filter with a mesh that is finer than the size of the nozzle, as disclosed in Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-114070 and Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-94700.
However, further improvements regarding manufacturing cost, connection reliability between parts and the like were desired with conventional filters when the filter and the ink jet recording head are manufactured and mounted separately, such as the method described in Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-114070. Meanwhile, further improvements regarding the toughness of the filter itself and yield were desired with filters formed by using an anti-etching mask, such as the method described in Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-94700.